An ancient language that transformed our world. This is its journey.

Star. Stjarna. Stare. Thousands of miles away, people look up at the night sky and use the same word to describe what they see. Hearing these English, Icelandic, and Iranian words, you can hear the echo of one of the most extraordinary journeys in human history. All three of these languages – and hundreds more – share a single ancient ancestor.

Five millennia ago, in a mysterious Big Bang of its own, this proto-language explodes, creating new worlds as it spreads east and west. Today, nearly half of humanity speaks an Indo-European language. How did this happen?

In Proto, distinguished journalist Laura Spinney embarks on a quest to uncover the truth. Along with her, we travel the length of the steppe, navigating the Caucasus, the Silk Roads, and the Hindu Kush. We follow in the footsteps of nomads and monks, Amazonian warriors and lion kings – the ancient peoples who spread these languages far and wide. In the present day, Spinney meets linguists, archaeologists, and geneticists who are working to recover this lost world. What they have discovered holds vital lessons for the modern age, as people and their languages are on the move once again.

Proto is a revelatory portrait of world history in its own words.

Pages: 352, Dimensions: 15.3x15.3cm